This invention has to do with disk drive suspensions, and more particularly with improvements in the load beam of a disk drive suspension to lower mass and inertia of the beam, to increase the flexibility of the beam in movement to and from the disk, and to increase the lateral and torsional stiffness of the beam, all by selective trenching of the beam, and to eliminate contamination problems inherent in previous beam modifications involving material removal.
Load beams carrying at their forward portion a gimballing assembly comprising a flexure and slider/magnetic head combination are mounted at their rearward portion to an actuator which shifts the load beam axially to carry the head to all desired portions of the disk.